Ian Paisley Jr. 'in Contempt of Court'

Ian Paisley Jr (photo) has been found 'in contempt of court' and fined £ 5000 for refusing to reveal a source to an inquiry that investigates the death of the late Billy Wright, a Protestant and Unionist terrorist in the North who was for some time leader of a radical splinter group, the so-called 'Loyalist Volunteer Force' (LVF).

Paisley Jr, who is the MLA for North Antrim (and son of former DUP leader and First Minister of the Northern administration Ian Paisley) was also told that he would have to pay £ 3000 toward the inquiry team's legal costs.

At the Belfast High Court Mr Justice Gillen said he would give Paisley Jr three months "to reconsider and to comply with the requests to reveal his source".

Ian Paisley Jr served from May 2007 to February 2008 as a junior minister in the office of the First Minister & Deputy First Minister in the North, but resigned from this position under a cloud over alleged irregularities.

He has consistently refused to reveal the identity of a prison officer working in the Maze Prison at the time of Wright's death in December 1997, who had told him that over 5000 prison files had been destroyed after the fatal shooting of the terrorist.

In a recent interview Paisley Jr defended his right to withhold the information, as it was given to him confidentially in his capacity as an elected member of the Northern Assembly. He declared that - if necessary - he would "rather go to prison than reveal the identity of the source".

The Emerald Islander

Are the Unionist Terror Groups in the North now ready to decommission their Weapons?

The Taoiseach has welcomed unconfirmed reports that Unionist terror organisations in the North have begun to decommission their weapons.

Speaking to RTÉ News, Brian Cowen (above right) stressed the need to wait for an official report from the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD), which oversees the process of putting terrorist weapons 'beyond use'.

The North's First Minister Peter Robinson (left) said that his party [the DUP] would "certainly welcome any move by the organisations to decommission their weapons and cease from their paramilitary activity".
"The DUP will continue to engage with these organisations in order to impress upon them the need to leave violence and criminality behind and to complete the decommissioning process," he added.

So far unconfirmed reports from the North suggest that the chairman of the IICD, the retired Canadian General John de Chastelain, has "witnessed decommissioning acts by two Unionist terror groups", the 'Ulster Volunteer Force' (UVF) and the 'Ulster Defence Association' (UDA). Those groups were responsible for the killing of about 1000 people - most of them Catholics and Nationalists - during the 'Troubles' in the North since 1969.

Making these pro-British terrorists, who had plenty of unofficial support from the British Army and the Northern security forces in the past, to give up their weapons has been one of the most serious and significant challenges of the still evolving peace process in the North of Ireland.

These groups of thugs and fanatics are not significant political players, and this factor has made persuading them to renounce violence all the more difficult.

However, for the best part of two years considerable efforts have been made behind the scenes to cajole and pressurise the Unionist terror groups to decommission.

General John de Chastelain (right), who oversaw the long decommissioning process of the PIRA (or IRA) weapons between 2002 and 2005, was in Belfast last month.
During that time the two main Unionist terror organisations - the UVF and the UDA - have apparently put weapons "beyond use".

According to the report, they have not yet decommissioned all their weapons, but are expected to continue with the process.

Sir Hugh Orde (left), Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), hailed the possibility of Unionist decommissioning as "very good news".
"More guns are off the streets as a result of the decision by both the UDA, as I understand it, and the UVF."

The decision to decommission finally had "not come as a surprise", Orde stated. New legislation that [Britain's] Northern Ireland Secretary Shaun Woodward introduced earlier this year was giving the Unionists until August to decommission their weapons.

"I think the legislation put an additional pressure on these groups, and they have to make a decision," the PSNI Chief added.

Let us hope that the leaked - and as yet unconfirmed - news are true and will soon be verified by the IICD.

The North of Ireland has seen more than enough violence since 1969, and as the PIRA/IRA decommissioned its weapons already years ago, the Unionist terror groups - although officially on 'cease fire' - are the last obstacles on the path to a normal and civilised political system in the Six Counties.

The Emerald Islander

Mass Demostrations for Peace in Ireland

The first terrorist murder of a PSNI officer has led to an unprecedented wave of condemnation and a widespread rejection of the terror that criminal splinter groups are trying to bring to the British-ruled Six Counties of Ulster once again.

Tens of thousands of people have joined peace rallies in the North of Ireland today, in protest against the brutal killings of a local policeman in Co. Armagh on Monday and two British soldiers in Co. Antrim last Saturday.

Separate rallies were held in Belfast, Lisburn, Newry, Downpatrick and Derry, showing solidarity for peace in Ireland and condemnation of the two deadly attacks for which two terrorist splinter groups have claimed responsibility.

In Belfast traffic in the streets around the City Hall was brought to a standstill as thousands of people gathered for a rally organised by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU).
The protesters observed a couple of minutes' silence and a lone piper played 'Amazing Grace' and 'Abide with me'.

"The callous attacks of the last few days were an assault on every citizen who supports peace," ICTU's assistant general secretary Peter Bunting told the crowd.
“This show of strength from civil society will send a clear message to the killers who do not deserve the monopoly of the word ‘dissident’. The word is too good for them. They are nothing but delinquents.”

Several speakers from the Irish Trade Union movement addressed the gatherings in the other cities.

Meanwhile this afternoon in London about two dozen British MPs from various parties stood in silence outside the Houses of Parliament in solidarity with those who have been taking part in protest marches and silent vigils against the killings in the North of Ireland .
The Republic of Ireland was represented at this event by the Charge d'Affaires at our London embassy, Mr. Kevin Conmy.

Tonight more than 500 local people gathered for a silent vigil in Craigavon, Co. Armagh close to the spot where PSNI Constable Stephen Carroll was shot dead by terrorists on Monday evening.

Earlier today Pope Benedict XVI also condemned the recent violence in Ireland in a speech at the Vatican.
"I condemn in the strongest terms these abominable acts of terrorism which, apart from desecrating human life, seriously endanger the ongoing peace process in Northern Ireland," the Pontiff said during his weekly general audience.
"I ask the Lord that no one will again give in to the horrendous temptation of violence," he added.

In a separate development, the historian and senior Sinn Féin politician Tom Hartley (right), currently the Lord Mayor of Belfast, is having talks with members of the Unionist Ulster Political Research Group, which has links to loyalist paramilitary groups in the Ulster Defence Association (UDA).

Back to the 'Bad Old Days'?

In a month's time the Good Friday Agreement, which was signed in Belfast on April 10th, 1998 (Good Friday), will be eleven years old. It is probably a typically Irish thing that politicians have wasted most of these years with quarrelling over the details of implementation.
Eventually we have seen the power-sharing government at Stormont established - less than two years ago - after the British and Irish governments had brought all political parties from the North to the Scottish university town of St. Andrews, where a second agreement was hammered out under strong pressure from both the Taoiseach and the British Prime Minister.

No-one expected things to be perfect, or to be without plenty of 'teething problems'. But after the strongest exponents from both Northern communities - the former arch enemies DUP and Sinn Féin - managed to bury the hatchet and work together constructively in the Stormont administration, even the most serious sceptics began to think that there could be a peaceful future for the Six Counties.

The dream lasted for 22 months, and with every day the hopes for normality and prosperity grew a little larger.

But then came last weekend, and with it the return of guns - and the nutters who use them - to the North of Ireland.
I can understand that even now - despite all peace declarations, power-sharing and cross-community initiatives - some people are angry with Britain and deeply resent the centuries of oppression, exploitation and cruelties the British Crown, its governments, soldiers and civil servants forced upon this island and its native inhabitants. In fact, I am not a fan of the UK myself.

But this does not mean that I get myself a gun and go out at night shooting British soldiers or policemen. It makes no sense at all to behave in such a way. And anyone who claims that the cruel murders committed by a number of Irishmen on Saturday evening at the gate of the British Army's Massereene Barracks (home base of the 38th Regiment, Royal Engineers) in Co. Antrim (north of Belfast) have anything whatsoever to do with politics or the Irish desire for self-determination and a united Irish nation is both a fool and a liar.

What happened on Saturday night under the shady banner of the so-called 'Real IRA' was a crime. A cruel and terrible crime that made no sense, but no more and no less.

The same goes for the cowardly killing of 48-year-old Constable Stephen Carroll (left) - a man with more than 20 years of service as a policeman - which happened yesterday evening in Craigavon, Co. Armagh and was claimed earlier today by another criminal splinter group, the so-called 'Continuity IRA'.
Constable Carroll is the first policeman killed in the North in more than ten years, and the first member of the PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland) who was murdered on duty. More than 300 policemen were killed in the Six Counties during the 30 years of the 'Troubles', when the police was organised differently and known as the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC).

According to security experts, both groups that claimed responsibility for the murders of the past three days are "small in numbers, and very limited in their capacity". It appears that they represent the most bitter and fanatical hard-liners who separated from the 'Provisional IRA' (PIRA), which conducted nearly three decades of guerilla warfare against Britain at the end of last century, after the IRA Army Council decided to join the peace process, disband their units and decommission their arms.
Who these people are is unknown. Otherwise they would most likely be in prison. But two things are clear: they are neither Irish patriots, nor representatives of anyone but themselves.

It is also significant - and once again quite typically Irish - that the small group of IRA dissenters did not form one single force of opposition, but at least two. It shows that we can rarely agree on anything, and that we are truly a very tribal people. So it would be wrong to call these people 'republicans' or 'nationalists'. They do neither know nor understand what a nation and a republic is, and would lack the discipline to form either. They are nothing but tribal warriors of the worst kind, without any philosophy, political target or proper command structure.
However, this lack of structure and control makes them quite dangerous.

In fact, there are actually more than two radical splinter groups. There could be as many as a dozen groups of disgruntled ex-IRA people or radical extremists who are determined to carry on regardless. But most of them are so tiny - some maybe not more than four or five people - that they are not able for active operations. Most of them are - thankfully - also lacking weapons and explosives at this time. This limits their anger and action to speeches, poems and articles in small newspapers.
And there is also the possibility that the British intelligence agencies MI-5 and MI-6 still operate a few of their rogue agents provocateur in Ireland. They were amazingly successful during the 'Troubles' and managed to infiltrate almost all of the republican organisations, from Sinn Féin to the IRA Army Council. In some cases those agents rose to astonishingly high positions within the organisations they spied on, perhaps because they were a little more efficient and motivated than the average Irish rebel.

The two groups one has heard of over the years - 'Real IRA' (RIRA) and 'Continuity IRA' (CIRA) - have somehow managed to arm and equip themselves.
It is not clear if they still use former PIRA stocks which they brought under their control before the decommissioning process began or if they have obtained new weapons, perhaps from abroad.

On Saturday evening the so-called 'Real IRA' ambushed four off-duty British soldiers in Antrim. They had come to the gate of their garrison to collect some pizza, which they had ordered to celebrate their departure from Belfast. They were already dressed in khaki-coloured battle fatigues, and hours later they would have been on an aeroplane to Kabul, for a tour of duty in Afghanistan.
The gunmen who had - it appears - followed the pizza delivery man (who is a Polish citizen working here) were shooting indiscriminately, firing more than 60 rounds in about 30 seconds. When they fled the scene, they left behind two soldiers dead, two others wounded, and two civilians also seriously injured.

For the past ten years such horrors were absent from the streets of the Six Counties, and if we heard or read about that kind of thing, it would be news from Iraq or Afghanistan. Now, it seems, the monster of terror has returned to our island.

Why now? And why at all?

This is difficult to answer, and only the perpetrators could really do it. But they remain silent and in the shadows, as one would expect it from the cowards they are.

In Co. Armagh, where the murder of Constable Carroll took place last night, the situation is slightly different than in Co. Antrim. Even during the thirty years of the 'Troubles' Armagh - traditionally the religious capital of all Ireland - and the surrounding county were a special case. There are feuds that run for centuries, and terrorist activities were always concentrated in a few small communities.
The sudden and - for most people - unexpected escalation of violent crime is only the latest act in a long-running series of local rebellion, rural thuggery and organised crime.
Unless the authorities in the North are willing and determined to drain the social swamp that keeps producing generation after generation of thugs and criminals, there will be no end to this problem.

There are, however, two silver linings around the dark clouds that have gathered over the Six Counties since Saturday evening.
In the late afternoon and early evening of today the PSNI arrested two men in Co. Armagh, close to the scene of last night's murder. According to a police spokesman they are "a man aged 37 and a 17-year-old youth, living locally". It is of course too early to draw conclusions, but it appears that the PSNI in Co. Armagh have at least a good idea who their opposition is. (So far no arrests have been made in Co. Antrim.)

The second positive, and probably even more significant, aspect is the rarely seen unity with which politicians of all parties - in the North, in the Republic and in Britain - have condemned the two latest acts of savagery and left no doubt that they will not derail - not even touch - the peace process and the determination for a decent political structure of fairness and co-operation in Ireland, North and South.

It would be easy for the Unionists to cry foul and point fingers, as they have done many times in the past. But nearly two years in government have taught even the most fundamentalist 'black Protestant' followers of Ian Paisley that shouting from the roof tops is no answer to political challenges, and that even in the North of Ireland the world is not just black and white.

And it would be equally easy for Republicans to wash their hands of radical and uncontrollable elements which are, after all, the product of the systematic unfairness, discrimination and 'Irish apartheid' that were the pillars of political philosophy in British-ruled Northern Ireland for 80 years.

But this time there is a strong united front standing against crime and terror. In a joint press conference with PSNI Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde (centre) in Belfast the North's First Minister (and DUP leader) Peter Robinson (left) and his Deputy, the senior Sinn Féin politician Martin McGuinness (right), made it clear that those who threatened stability and violated the peace are the enemies of them all.

McGuinness, in his youth himself an active member of the Provisional IRA who rose to command the Derry Brigade of that guerilla force, used the strongest words of all the politicians.
"In the past," he said, "there were people fighting for a united Ireland and against British rule. After three decades they decided that peaceful means are the better way to pursue their aims. Now we have a small group of self-appointed avengers who claim to act on behalf of Ireland. These people are traitors to the whole of Ireland. What they do betrays everything Irish nationalists and republicans stand for. They are scum and deserve to be treated as such. They deserve no support from anyone, and I urge the people to co-operate with the police in every possible way and form."

Such a tough statement has rarely been heard from an Irish Republican in the past, and it demonstrates clearly that Sinn Féin - in the past often seen as the 'political wing of the IRA' - is now a normal democratic party like any other in Ireland or Britain.

There is no nation on this planet without crime, and no society without social problems. They vary from one country to the next, and even from town to town things can be different. But the common factor of all crime is that it is directed against the common good, as well as against certain individuals.

In many Irish and British newspapers and on radio stations in both countries journalists and commentators have asked yesterday and today if the North of our beautiful island is "on the way back to the bad old days" of wide-spread violence, terror and the deployment of British troops on the streets of Irish towns and cities.
While some might have contemplated that seriously for a while, I do not expect it to happen. The Irish - and even more so the British - have in the past been slow learners of history and political wisdom. But now a new generation of politicians is in charge, a generation able to look forward and see a future, instead of burying their heads in the quarrels of the past.

There will be no turn-about, no return to guerilla fighting and civil war. As serious and shocking the murders of three uniformed members of the British security forces are, they will not create a new division of the Irish people. One can only hope that the PSNI will deal with the two acts of terror as quickly and professionally as possible, and that those responsible will be brought to Justice in due course.

But we all - Irish people in both jurisdictions - should also be aware of the new threats, as minor as they may be compared with the past, and be vigilant against people whose anti-social attitude would be a danger to any nation, state and society. They include thugs and common criminals, violent gangs and drug dealers as much as those who are trying to hide their brutal murders under a false flag of nationalism and political opposition.
It is high time that tribalism - a typical Irish trait for more than 2000 years - makes way for a new form of positive and true nationalism. Unless the people of Ireland - North and South - realise that our future is linked, and that we can only live peaceful and prosper if everyone co-operates on the basis of common sense and equal standards, we will never get rid of minority violence against the will and aims of the vast majority.

In a welcome change from the past all our politicians - and those in Britain as well - have left bickering and party politics behind. They have united against a common enemy - the enemy of the common people - and shown us the way. It is now for us - every person on this island - to follow their example and move forward into better times. Being people deeply rooted in history, we will never forget the 'bad old days' of violence, but we will never turn back. Even thinking of doing that would be nothing short of collective national suicide.

The Emerald Islander

A Man like Hitler and Stalin combined

Many Irish people take little notice of other countries and their affairs, especially when they are far away, on another continent.
However, the ongoing and ever increasing campaign of terror, violence and political intimidation that is unleashed daily on the people of Zimbabwe has now become a regular news item here on the Emerald Isle and thus Irish people are ever more aware of the worst abuse of political power in Africa.

Having lost the parliamentary elections of March 29th to the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) as well as the first round of the presidential election held on the same day, the now 84-year-old Zimbabwean leader (he is no longer the legitimate President) Robert Mugabe is using any possible means to cling on to power, while his country deteriorates into chaos, economic meltdown and famine.

Robert Mugabe (above), a Jesuit-educated Catholic and once a revered freedom fighter in the struggle for the independence of Zimbabwe, has in his old age become the worst and cruelest dictator the African continent has seen in modern times. As a historian one needs to be careful with the use of superlatives, but sadly there is no doubt that Robert Mugabe now outranks even Uganda's Idi Amin and Zaire's Mobuto when it comes to cruelty, brutality, violence and absolute egoism. Zimbabwe's dictator also outshines other African leaders in his combination of huge arrogance and ignorance, with total incompetence in the field of proper political and economical leadership. And the longer he carries on in power, the clearer it becomes to observers and analysts that he is a totalitarian maniac who has lost all sense for reality and the outside world. In this he resembles Adolf Hitler in his last days in the bunker beneath his office, still convinced of 'his special mission' while the world around him was shot to pieces by Russian artillery.

Like Hitler, the Zimbabwean dictator also believes that he is "chosen by God" as the leader of his people. And in a speech that can only be described as a bad copy of Hitler's Nuremberg rally speeches, Mugabe declared a few days ago that he "will never give up power to the opposition" and that "only God" could remove him as leader.

In private, it is said, he is quite a shy man who lives a rather simple life (another similarity with Hitler), and like Stalin he appears to be fond of much younger women in his old age. During his first marriage (to the Ghana-born political activist Sally Hayfron) this was not the case. It was in fact Sally who inspired him politically and believed in Mugabe as 'the chosen one' to rule and lead his country. A similar belief was shared by Mugabe's mother, a pious Catholic who saw her son Robert as some kind of Messiah after a priest had told her that he was gifted and 'chosen by God to do great things'. As it happens, this priest was Irish and thus we have perhaps a share in the responsibility for the making of Robert Mugabe.
Hitler was a Catholic as well, even though not very practising and church-going. He also did enjoy a close relationship with the Church throughout all his life and was - despite his atrocious crimes against humanity - never excommunicated.

But Hitler is not the only of Mugabe's inspirational characters from history. In many ways he is actually closer to Stalin than to Hitler and shares several personality traits with the former Soviet dictator. Before he got involved in revolutionary politics, Stalin was a seminarian, studying to become a Russian-Orthodox priest. Mugabe, who grew up on a Catholic missionary station in (the then British colony of) Rhodesia, took the name of the archangel Gabriel as his confirmation name and was educated by Marist Brothers and later by Jesuits, with the prospect of joining the order. But like Stalin he preferred politics to theology and got involved in the revolutionary underground of Rhodesia.

Stalin attempted a large-scale land reform, confiscating land from bourgeois private land owners and handing it over to collectives of landless peasants. The result was a dramatic shortage of food production, which led to a massive famine. More than 20 million Russians died within a decade, most of them from starvation, but many of the former landowners were also killed by the NKVD (later renamed KGB) on Stalins explicit personal orders.

Mugabe did the same. He confiscated the most productive farms in his country (which happened to belong mostly to successful white Zimbabwean farmers) and handed them over to motley crews of so-called 'war veterans', uneducated and arrogant young thugs who never saw a war in their life. High on alcohol and drugs, they wreaked havoc in the countryside, killing many farmers and driving the rest off their lands. Then they occupied the farms as the new masters, but since they have not the slightest idea how to run them, the result is the same as in the Soviet Union in the 1920s: a drastic decline in food production and subsequently a massive famine.

Meanwhile the unemployment rate in Zimbabwe is above 80%, and inflation is rising so fast that any percentage rate is already out of date by the time one mentions it. A British journalist who covered the elections of March 29th told me that he got one billion Zimbabwe Dollars for one pound sterling when he entered the country. A week later, when he left, the exchange rate had already doubled. And last week, when he went for another visit, the value of one pound sterling had jumped to a staggering 40 billion Zimbabwe Dollars!

Both Hitler and Stalin used their armies, police, secret police and uniformed party militias (formed from uneducated thugs, bullies and criminals) to intimidate their political opponents, bully the population and force people to comply with their political programmes and wishes. Robert Mugabe does exactly the same. Just like Hitler and Stalin he has also corrupted the leadership of the armed forces in such a way that meanwhile their own survival depends entirely on him and the continuation of his totalitarian regime. And there is another parallel between the modern African dictator and his two historical inspirations: Like the leaders of Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia the leader of Zimbabwe also is very blunt and open in his speeches. He freely admits his aim of absolute and total control, and he openly threatens his opponents in public speeches, which - like those of Hitler - are filled with references to war and fighting.

In the past week alone at least 84 MDC members and supporters were killed by armed thugs of the ZANU-PF (Mugabe's party) militia, modeled on Hitler's SA. About 3000 more were attacked and wounded with weapons or beaten up. Many have been arrested by the police and tortured in prison. And hundreds of women were assaulted by ZANU-PF thugs and raped, while their children were either killed or abducted. The wife and son of the Mayor-elect of the capital Harare, who is a leading member of the MDC, were abducted by soldiers last week. The wife was later found dead, while the son managed to escape injured.

Yesterday a large contingent of police has stormed and ransacked Harvest House, the MDC head office in Harare, and any MDC candidate trying to campaign in the second round of the presidential elections has been arrested.
Tendai Biti, the Secretary General of the party, has been in prison for a week now, held on the spurious charge of 'treason'. Subsequently the leader of the MDC, Morgan Tsvangirai (above), a former miner and trade union leader, had to abandon his campaign and seek protection and safety in the Dutch embassy in Harare.
Meanwhile the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has declared that "a free and democratic election in Zimbabwe is no longer possible". He urged Robert Mugabe and his party to stop the violence and intimidation and restore law and order. But as welcome these words are, they are just words and will have no impact. Mugabe, who lives in his own little world, has long ago stopped to listen, and especially to people from the outside world.

Every time I hear further news from Zimbabwe I find it hard to believe that in the 21st century such behaviour is still possible - and tolerated by the rest of the world. The scenes reported by journalist and people from Zimbabwe are the same as one finds described in books about Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union during the time of Stalin's terror. The only difference is that now the world looks on in horror - and does nothing. Critical words from western politicians are the only reaction of the so-called 'free' world.
George W. Bush, who mentions in almost every speech that his country's mission is to bring democracy to the third world, is ominously silent. There are no US or NATO troops preparing to go into Zimbabwe to defend and restore democracy. Of course not, as they are too busy in Iraq and Afghanistan, where they wage war against civilians and behave worse than the most brutal German forces in Poland and Russia during World War II.

The greatest disappointment is the silence and inactivity of most of the other African leaders. The ignorance displayed by them is nothing short of criminal, and they are co-responsible for the terror and chaos that is happening in Zimbabwe. Idle bystanders who could help to avoid a catastrophe, but chose not to, are as guilty as those who plan and execute acts of terror.

With the exception of Zambia's President Levy Mwanawasa, who is currently also the Chairman of the SADC (South African Development Council), Africa's leaders are in denial over the violent attacks on Zimbabwean democracy, most of all South Africa's spineless President Thabo M'beki, who recently declared in public that there was "no crisis in Zimbabwe".
Last month I had the privilege to meet Morgan Tsvangirai at a conference in Belfast, where he was the surprise guest of honour. He is a kind and friendly man, but also a determined politician and a true democrat, probably one of the few to be found in modern Africa. He needs all the support the free world can give, and I hope that our politicians will this time offer more than a few lukewarm words.

Many years ago, when racist white regimes in South Africa and Rhodesia oppressed the political will of their black people, the western world was outraged and imposed harsh sanctions on both countries. The imprisoned leaders of the black rebellion - among them Nelson Mandela and Robert Mugabe - were hailed as heroes all around the world. They both achieved the ultimate political and personal success and became the Presidents of their countries.

But where is the outrage of the world when an illegitimate and tyrannic black leader does to his fellow black compatriots worse things than the white minority governments ever did? Not much is seen and heard from the people who were so active in the 'Free Nelson Mandela' campaign. It is a real shame and a clear sign of hypocrisy. There is also absolute silence in the Catholic Church. No critical word about Mugabe is heard from any church pulpit or bishop's palace, and especially not from the Vatican.
Why has he not been excommunicated for his murders, terror and cruelties?
(A local woman, who got married again after her divorce, was refused communion by the priest in her church, with the backing of the bishop. It appears that for the Church she is a worse sinner than Robert Gabriel Mugabe...)

Dictators around the world and of all times have the same psyche as bullies on a playground: they are really cowards inwardly and need the constant harassment of other people to feel their apparent own importance. They can only succeed if they find enough others to go along with the cruel ideas they have, enough who are willing to get involved in their crimes. And they also need many others to accept their bullying and dictatorship. No country can be ruled against the will of its people, and each nation is responsible for its own destiny.

But the world as a whole - especially in the apparently so enlightened 21st century - has also a collective responsibility. Criticising Mugabe and his henchmen is not enough. A truly criminal and inhumane regime that kills its own population systematically with weapons and with starvation is unacceptable and needs to be removed by all means. The world's major powers have enough soldiers and equipment to liberate Zimbabwe in a week, if they want to.
Sadly it appears that the people of this once rich, fertile and prosperous country will have to suffer ever more in years to come, as no country has the courage and humanity to put an end to Robert Mugabe, the worst dictator in Africa and a man who is like Hitler and Stalin combined.

The African Union (the successor to the OAU) has actually the power for a military intervention in member countries 'under exceptional circumstances', which has been used recently in Lesotho and the Comoros Islands. It is more than time for the Africans to sort out their own problems, face the facts and restore law, order and democracy to Zimbabwe.

The Emerald Islander

It needs one to know one

George W. Bush decided to begin the last of his eight years in the White House with a lengthy tour through the Middle East, which included his first ever visit to Israel. For a politician who has been a staunch supporter of Israel for many years and has meddled in the region more than any other US leader in recent times, it is somewhat surprising that he has left it so late. But, as they say, better late than never.

After leaving Israel, without offering a solution for the Palestinian problem or anything else, Bush moved to the Persian Gulf emirates, where he gave a major speech yesterday in Abu Dhabi. This speech, well written and addressed to all major nations in the region, covers a wide range of political aspects in a broad sweep.
However, the most significant part is the passage in which he accuses Iran to be "the world's leading state sponsor of terror". It appears that by doing so Mr. Bush overlooks conveniently one other contender for this accolade: his own country.

Reading and analysing Bush's words one cannot help but seeing a lot more parallels between his accusation of Iran and the current situation at home in the USA. Let me give you just a few examples (and if you want to read the whole speech, you can find it on the website of the White House or access it through BBC online news).

"Iran is today the world's leading state sponsor of terror," Bush said. "It sends hundreds of millions of dollars to extremists around the world - while its own people face repression and economic hardship at home."
This is a heavy accusation, but we have only Mr. Bush's word for it. There is no positive proof, no shred of evidence.
We all still remember vividly the presentation the then Secretary of State Colin Powell gave to the UN about the "Weapons of Mass Destruction" Iraq was accused to have. Powell even had a whole set of photos, drawings and diagrams in support of his arguments. But, as we now know, the whole thing was a tissue of lies, supported by fake and deliberately fabricated material.

What we do know is that the USA spends billions of dollars each year in support of oppressive and undemocratic states (such as Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Egypt etc.), plus hundreds of millions on covert operations, conducted mostly by armed groups seen by many as forces of terror. Not even to mention the billions wasted on the illegal occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan...
And when it comes to the matter of repression and economic hardship at home the finger Bush points at Iran is pointing right back at him and the USA. Perhaps there is still some more freedom and liberty in the United States than in today's Iran, but ever since the current administration passed the "Patriot Act", many of the liberties once taken for granted by Americans are suspended or gone. Especially those who don't agree with Bush and his cronies find themselves now in a very repressive country called USA.
And due to Bush's massive over-spending on military and intelligence matters the USA are in a serious economical crisis, with enormous debts, an ever falling dollar, rising inflation and great hardship for the majority of Americans who are not millionaires. Many of my American friends, all in meaningful employment and regarded as middle class people, tell me how difficult it is now even for them to make ends meet. The really poor Americans are meanwhile on the bread line and often even below it. (In New York alone more than 4 million people - equivalent to the total population of my country - now depend of regular food hand-outs...) Such is not the case in Iran.

"It seeks to intimidate its neighbors with ballistic missiles and bellicose rhetoric," Bush continued, talking about Iran. "And finally, it defies the United Nations and destabilizes the region..."
Well, well... I thought when I heard these words last night on the BBC World Service, isn't he really talking about himself and his country, rather than about Iran?
There is undoubtedly a lot wrong with Iran and its leadership, but not as much as with the USA since the Bush administration took over nearly seven years ago.

There is an old saying that "it needs one to know one", often used for people with special skills, like artists and writers, but also common for spies and many other kinds of individuals. Perhaps that also goes for political scoundrels and adventurers...

The Emerald Islander